Nov. 12, 2009
by Charlie Hulme, UNC Athletic Communications
CHAPEL HILL - It's been almost a year since Tyler Zeller broke his wrist.
Zeller's fall under the basket against Kentucky cost him most of his freshman regular season, valuable playing time and experience. While fellow rookies Ed Davis and Larry Drew II played supporting roles on the Tar Heels' run to the national title, Zeller was sidelined until the NC State game on Feb. 18.
By the look of his play through two games this season, the 7-footer is determined to make up for missed time.
"I feel a lot better," Zeller says. "I can go out and play my game. I'm not really worried about my wrist; I've never had problems with it."
If anything, the sophomore from Indiana has become more aggressive since the injury. In Wednesday night's 89-42 win against North Carolina Central, Zeller delighted the crowd with a vicious dunk on a breakaway, and shot a perfect 6-for-6 from the field for 12 points and six rebounds. He said after the game that his jumper felt good against the Eagles.
"It's just one of those things you keep working on until you get in the flow," Zeller says.
One of the forward's goals this offseason was to get stronger to prevent injuries like the one he suffered last November. Zeller says he sometimes surprises himself with his added strength.
"Sometimes I forget how strong I am," he says. "I'll get a foul here, or throw a pass too hard...it's one of those things that I'm still getting used to."
Several highly talented ACC guards either graduated or made the jump to the NBA after last season, making inside play even more important for success within the conference this season. Zeller and the rest of the Carolina forwards know that the Tar Heels will go as far as this year as the frontcourt takes them.
"Coach [Roy Williams] tells us we need to rebound a lot," Zeller says. "We're a big team. We've got six people over 6-10, so with that kind of a lineup we need to be able to rebound very well."
The Tar Heels cleaned the glass against Central, grabbing 46 boards to the Eagles' 24. Coach Roy Williams said afterward that he was impressed with the Tar Heels' rebounding, but that he expects a team with Carolina's size to control the boards.
Williams will call on a number of big men to fill the forward spots this season, but Zeller doesn't expect the competition to negatively affect the team's play.
"You just have to play to your abilities," Zeller says. "When you go in, you have to add something to the team, but at the same time you have to play within yourself. You can't go out and try to do things you can't do just to fit in; you have to find your role and play that role."
Zeller and the rest of the Tar Heels will take the court again on Sunday, Nov. 15, when Valparaiso travels to Chapel Hill. Tip-off is at 4 p.m., and the game will be televised on Fox Sports South.
